


Of Comets and Comfortable Silence

by Kismetcanbiteme



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2019-10-10
Packaged: 2020-09-01 06:53:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20253967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kismetcanbiteme/pseuds/Kismetcanbiteme
Summary: In which Clarke is stubborn and Lexa isn't always patient with her.or au in which a comet causes the soulmate tattoo trope. Ever seen Night of the Comet? It’s like that but not as scary.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo, this was a oneshot meant to cure my writers block that got wildly out of hand.

When the comet passed, it was all over the news. They said it was going to be the closest comet to pass the earth in over a century and the media promised a light show of epic proportions. Immediately, social media started blowing up. “Influencers” started live-streaming about it. #Arkadiascomet was trending. There was a star Snapchat filter. Pinterest exploded with space themed party ideas, and, of course, scientists were thrilled with the possibilities this flying hunk of burning rock had in store. 

Raven, in particular wouldn't shut up about it, “Just think! Imagine what we could do with material from an unidentified star cluster. Clarke! If I can get my hands on a piece, _ imagine _the reactions I could get” reactions. Sure. Reactions. read BOOM. 

From the other end, Octavia was never one to miss a party opportunity and had suckered Clarke into buying the necessary glow sticks and the unsurprisingly upcharged star decorations.

“Red or blue?”

“Do I look like I care?” Clarke huffed from her place bent over with her head resting on the handle of the shopping cart.

“ _ I _ care” Octavia said “Now, red or blue”

“Red”

“I don’t know, I think I like the blue.” she trailed off looking at the star-shaped confetti the same way Raven looked at the chemicals in her lab.

“Christ, Octavia its just confetti, fucking pick one.”

“What’s got you all grumpy?” she asked raising one perfect eyebrow

She finally lifted her head to glare at her friend “Long day. Look, the party is tonight and we have less than an hour to finish buying these decorations before we pick up Raven and drive out to Bellamy’s, so if we could-”

Octavia suddenly looked a little guilty “Yeah, about that, do you have a little extra room in your car?

Her eyes went wide “No. No absolutely not, she’s not riding with us, she can walk”

“Clarke, come on…”

They continued arguing all through the store and all the way back to the apartment Clarke shared with Raven.

Clarke could not care less about the comet. She frankly couldn’t care less about the party, she had work the next morning (apparently comets didn’t take into account her busy schedule when choosing to fly terrifyingly close to earth.)

And of course, Octavia had to invite Lexa. Goody. To say Clarke and Lexa weren’t friends was putting it mildly. The teacher frankly made Clarke want to tear her hair out (or tear Lexa to shreds, either way.) And it wasn’t like Clarke could escape her either, not since high school when they all met and formed their little motley crew. Lexa was Lincoln's sister. Lincoln was Octavia’s boyfriend. Octavia seemed incapable of doing anything without her boyfriend. Lincoln loved his sister. Clarke was in hell. End of story.

_ Everything _was an issue with them. Lexa always had criticism ready for anything Clarke said or did, and Clarke always had a barb aimed at Lexa’s entire existence

From where to eat. “Clarke there isn’t anything on this menu that won’t destroy your heart. We are not eating here.” “Well it's a good thing you don't have a heart to destroy then isn’t it, Lexa.” 

The touchy subject of punctuality. “Have you ever been on time for anything in your life?” “Have you ever started a conversation like a normal human? Maybe a hi or even a good morning?” “It would still _be_ morning if you had been on time.” 

The touchier subject of Clarke's choice in partners. “He cheated on you! Why is he still coming to the star barbecue?” “Because he’s still Raven's best friend?” “...he hurt you.” “What, do you suddenly care Woods?”

Even board games weren’t safe “Clarke, you can’t steal from the bank” “Not with that attitude” “That’s it, I'm putting you in jail” “That’s not in the rules!” “Neither is a fucking bank heist?!”

Of course, that didn’t account for the weird silent protective streak they had going one. Lexa was always the first to defend Clarke from many unwanted advances from strange men with her sharp words and impressive vocabulary. All in the name of feminism. And as much as Clarke would never admit it, she had put other people in their place more than a few times for speaking too harshly about Lexa's whole ice queen thing. No one was allowed to make fun of her for that. Except Clarke.

They drove their friends up the wall from day one and it was still going strong. Usually Lincoln or Octavia would mediate, and the entire group had learned to separate them by at least two people at the table. Gradually, the other members of their group learned to work around the hurricane that was Clarke and Lexa’s weird harsh protective not-quite friendship.

So it was strange to say the least when Clarke ended up sitting next to her on Bellamy's couch, drinking beer, wearing a galaxy skater dress circa 2010, and watching Night of the Comet (Clarke thought it was appropriate, and Lexa loved the dark humor in it.) As they took in the horror film about people turning to dust when a mysterious comet passed overhead, everyone else was outside where the music and space themed decor was. Clarke just couldn't bring herself to get hyped about it. What was so special about a hunk of rock? Lexa would probably know. Lexa knew everything. But Lexa would also roll her eyes and mumble something about Clarke being an "artist living in her own little world", so Clarke refrained from asking

“Hey! You guys kill each other yet?” Bellamy asked, bouncing in and flopping down by Lexa taking in her dark grey jeans and black sweater. “Lex! You were supposed to dress like something space themed” He pointed to his Space jam tank top and grinned.

Lexa smirked back, took a sip of her beer, and said “The night sky is black, isn't it?”

He laughed good naturedly and said “At least Clarke’s got the idea. Although, I haven't seen that dress since your date with...” he trailed off suggestively and laughed harder when Clarke poked him in the ribs. 

“Oh calm down, Clarke. Everyone knows about your disastrous first and last date with _ Murphy _in high school.” Lexa said.

“Doesn't mean I want the whole world to know.” she hissed back "it’s embarrassing.”

“I'll say.” Lexa snickered. 

“At least I never tried to convince myself I was straight by taking Bell to winter formal.”

Bellamy gasped as if affronted “Lexa, you used me!? I thought what we had was special!” he wiped away mock tears.

Lexa nodded solemnly and placed a hand on his arm “I’m sorry Bell, the results came back from the lab. Its true... I'm Lebanese”

“NO! Not my good American Lexa! A Lebanese” he picked her up from the couch and spun her around while she shrieked. Even Clarke had to smile at that.”Now come on. let's see if this comet burns us to dust, turns us into zombies, or gives Rae something new to blow up.”

Unsurprisingly, the comet passed and did none of those things The night wore on, everyone drank too much, and then regretted it the next morning. And that was the end of that.

Except it wasn't.

* * *

_ It _didn't start gaining media attention until about a week after the fact, but the rumors had started buzzing the next morning. One of those unexplained epidemics that was far scarier than a zombie apocalypse. It started with couples, old ones who had been together since forever, going into the police, claiming they woke with tattoos that they didn't remember getting. The authorities put it down to dementia. So did doctors. It wasn't until one doctor and his husband of twenty years woke up with matching vine tattoos on their torso and arm respectively, that any research was started. The first thing they realized was that the tattoos weren't ink. Somehow, the skin cells changed color The second thing they realized was that they were not dangerous, at least, not obviously. None of the cells were deteriorating, they were just different. The third thing they realized was that it had started after the comet passed, leaving everyone to wonder what the hell the comet was made of that could cause something like this.

By the end of the week, everyone knew someone who had one, and everyone wanted one. Octavia and Lincoln were the first Clarke had seen. They woke up the next day with white flowers blooming all over their chests.

At first, Clarke assumed it had to do with who you were near when the comet passed over, and at first the scientific community agreed with her, but then she (and they, eventually) realized that couldn't be it, because she and Raven had fallen asleep slumped on the table against each other and nothing happened to them.

It continued like that, and it wasn't stopping. Soon, people who brushed hands on the street, who kissed their significant other would pull away with hands or arms or legs covered in color. Even a certified asshole like Murphy came to Clarke’s apartment two days later freaking out because some girl named Emori left blue geometric shapes all over his shoulder when she handed him his coffee. It wasn't until doctors could pull enough testing groups together that they figured out the correlation (although social media put it together much more quickly): Soul mates or, less romantically, Individuals with optimum attraction levels and high compatibility scores. Not only that, but the affected’ body chemistry changed. Things science couldn't explain, like hormone levels bouncing off the charts, blood types full on changing, genetics mutating. What scientists couldn't tell was whether or not new humans, those who were not alive at the time of the comet, would experience these same reactions. Whether this new mutation could be passed down. No matter what the outcome was, it was happening and happening fast.

And the internet _exploded._

Sometimes, Clarke wished the comet _ had _been good for making things go boom, because if Clarke had to see another vlog about someone finding their soulmate, or another stupid meme about which unattractive character people jokingly thought there soulmate might look like or another crying youtuber apology video about trying to fake one for attention, she was going to lose it.

Unfortunately, the hype didn't seem like it was going to die down anytime soon. Everyone wanted to capitalize on the new phenomenon. Restaurants had "soul specials" and tattoo artists offered fake soulmate marks (Clarke could respect the great marketing strategy, but really it was just artists charging double for matching tats). Books were being written, movies were in the works, the number of wedding skyrocketed. Clarke had never gotten so many photography appointments in her entire career, and the small commission site she ran for her paintings was flooded with requests for paintings of tattoos. She ignored those.

One thing no one anticipated was that the new tattoos legitimized homosexuality in the eyes of many previously prejudiced churches. After all, they couldn't say the tattoos were a gift from God and not acknowledge gay people had them too. So at least some good came out of it.

Of course, there was still that small faction of people who thought they were a curse but there will always be crazy people in the world. 

* * *

Clarke belonged to larger (but still small) faction of people who doubted the tattoos meant anything more than what people wanted them to mean, thought it was absurd that such a big decision was based on a(n admittedly nuts) genetic mutation caused by a burning rock, and told Lexa as much about a month later sitting across from her at brunch with their friends at their usual table outside.

“I'm just saying, I think it's ridiculous that people are putting so much stock in something so arbitrary.” 

“Clarke, tattoos appearing on people from skin to skin contact is not arbitrary. Its something that's never been seen before in the history of the human race. Why are you so bound and determined not to admit its importance?” Lexa said. _Oooh_ her eye was doing that twitch that told Clarke she was at her limit… One more jab.

“Placebo effect” she said simply taking a sip of her mimosa

“Excuse me” narrowed eyes, even better

Clarke shrugged “People believe the tattoos mean something, and so they convince themselves they feel that way. No offense guys.” she said jerking her head at Octavia and Lincoln.

“None take” he said “we were together before all this” Octavia nodding along with too much bread in her mouth.

Lexa looked like she was about to scream “So you mean to tell me that you don't think there’s any significance in people's blood type changing, their genetics mutating? You think that's all what? Coincidental?! Unimportant?”

“Of course not”

“Thank God”

“It probably mean tons of new research material for genetic disorder specialists.” 

Lexa’s face got _ so _red and Clarke lived for moments like these “You- genetic- I- fucking-” Lexa spluttered before throwing her hands up “I don't even know why I try.”

“But God knows it’s so entertaining when you do. Look, just because couples _ feel _closer doesn't mean they actually are.” she said adding insult to injury by toasting Lexa.

“Don't worry, Lex. Clarke’s just scared that she’ll get one and become her mom’s new lab rat” Raven said adjusting her large sunglasses and smirking.

“Her what?” Bellamy asked from where he was trying to beat his sister in amount of rolls consumed in an hour.

Clarke groaned “Ugh, don't remind me, shes obsessed.”

Raven said “Doctor Griffin has volunteered to head Arkadia Hospital's new soulmate tattoo research team”

“Which reminds me, she actually asked if you two could stop by the hospital so she can see the marks for herself and probably ask to run tests.” Clarke said reluctantly, turning to Lincoln and Octavia.

“Sure, why not? I’m free. How bout you babe?” Octavia asked him

“Yeah, might as well figure out whose blood type reigns supreme in this relationship.” He replied nudging her shoulder playfully.

She rolled her eyes “We’ll stop by this afternoon around two.”

Clarke nodded “I’ll text her.”

The group eventually finished up their brunch and left the restaurant, Octavia and Lincoln to the hospital, Raven to go make something explode, and Bellamy to watch her, leaving Clarke alone with her least favorite person.

For lack of anything else to do, they started the short walk back to the apartment complex they both lived in. ( to say they had been displeased to find out they were neighbors was an understatement,)

It was quiet which was fantastic. Only the sound of their swishing sundresses kept them company. It was funny, because when they weren’t arguing, Clarke actually found Lexa’s stoic presence rather grounding, safe. Maybe it was an association thing. During Octavia's parties, Clarke and Lexa usually found themselves drunk on the bathroom floor at 4 am (the registered safe time for spilling your guts both literally and figuratively) having one of their rare “deep chats” it was the only time their friends didn't have to pull them off each others throats, and Clarke would only admit this with a gun to her head, but that was always her favorite part of the party. Everyone had a drunk buddy. Lexa was hers. Clarke thought she had held Lexa’s hair back while she puked enough times to earn the title.

Lexa interrupted Clarke's thoughts and by saying quietly “I think they would have been soulmates.”

Clarke played dumb “who?”

“Your parents.” she answered “that's why you're so against the whole tattoo thing. You’re angry they’ll never know, but I believe they would have been.” Clarke's dad had died three years ago in an automobile accident. The other driver was drunk but he survived. Jake Griffin didn’t.

Clarke felt her throat tighten “You don't know what I feel”

Lexa raised a hand to Clarke's denim covered shoulder which was immediately shrugged off “Its ok to be angry about the missed moments, Clarke. Your feelings don’t make you weak”

“Yeah?” she spat “what do you know, Lexa? You push your feelings down so far no one knows you have them. It’s a good thing Costia left before this whole thing. You would have been the first soulmate ever to feel nothing for your partner.” it was a low blow but Clarke was touchy about her dad. She saw Lexa draw into herself and regretted every word. When Costia left it was messy, she had been an integral part of their group and Lexa’s girlfriend all through high school. A year into college she transferred to Azgeda U. She and Lexa tried to do long distance but it was hard and eventually Costia broke it off and never came back to Arkadia. When she had broken it off she had told Lexa that it was because she didn't feel like Lexa felt anything for her anymore. Lexa was crushed.

Green eyes hardened “Fine. Message received.” she said, storming past Clarke into the building.

“Lexa…” she tried but it fell flat as the door slammed leaving her on the sidewalk alone


	2. Chapter 2

“I know you don’t believe it, Clarke, but I _ swear _it’s real. I didn’t think it was possible to fall more in love with him, but I’m sure my heart size, like, doubled after we got our soulmarks.” Octavia gushed using the stupid term coined by the internet.

Clarke grabbed the popcorn from the counter-top and walked over to sit on the couch next to her “I'm not saying you don’t feel it O, I’m _ saying _it’s not caused by the mark”

“Look its not like it made me feel differently, just… amplified. And your mom’s done all the tests, our brainwaves are altered.”

“How does she know they’ve altered when she doesn’t have scans of them in the first place” Clarke asked

“She had scans from me. Remember when I hit my head during kickboxing and had to get that MRI?” O said excitedly

Raven strolled in with blankets for the sleepover “Face it, Griffin, there’s no arguing with science.” she said.

“It's not just the science part that bugs me, it's everything, The social aspect, the expectations, the lack of choice.”

“Clarke, most of the couples experiencing it were already together which indicates its at least partially choice related” Raven pointed out coming to sit beside her on the couch.

“Still! Its.. it just not right.” she said with a tone of finality.

Octavia and Raven shared a look.

“Clarke, I think we need to talk about why you’re so irritated by this whole idea.” Octavia started tentatively 

“No. We don't.” Clarke said staring at the t.v.

Raven grabbed the remote and switched it off “_ Yes _. We do.”

“This isn't fair to you and… it's not fair to her.”

“Who?”

Raven eyed her carefully before responding “Lexa.”

Clarke felt heat start crawling up the back of her neck “What's she got to do with any of this?”

“Clarke, you can’t tell us its not worrying you. You have to have thought about the possibility that you and Lexa could be-” Octavia started.

“I don't know what you’re talking about” Clarke replied stubbornly.

“Bullshit,” Raven said “this reaction alone tells me you’ve thought about the possibility. Look, we won’t mention it again, obviously bothers you and you’re not ready, but you need to at least talk to her about the possibility.”

“If I knew what possibility you were talking about I would.”

“Fine!” Octavia exclaimed, ``Clarke, let it sneak upon you and make your life twelve times harder when it does.”

Clarke didn’t dignify that with a response. She pressed play on the remote and drowned out the thoughts buzzing in her head.

* * *

Just two more to go and then she’d be done. Just two, just two, just two, she used this as a mantra as she rushed to photograph her third wedding of the day and chugged a monster as she power walked to her uber. On the way, she managed to step in mud and a truck splashed her with water as it passed, soaking her.

Her day didn’t get any better. From freshly tatted bridezillas, to a broken heel, everything that could go wrong did until Clarke was in tears and wished that stupid comet had never existed.

It was October so she trudged up the stairs (broken elevator) shivering, and ran into the last person she wanted to see in this moment. Lexa. Who simply looked at her shaking like a dirty drowned rat and ushered her inside her own apartment. Lexa wordlessly handed her clean clothes and a towel (very careful not to brush her skin) and pointed her towards the shower.

By the time Clarke got out, dressed in Lexa’s clothes and feeling much better, Lexa was making tea. Her back still to Clarke, she asked “So are we not going to discuss it?”

“Discuss what?”

Lexa turned “Everyone says...well we could be-not that I think- it's just what everyone says and…” she trailed off

Clarke regarded her for a moment “If you stop trying to talk to me about this we can watch that stupid squid documentary you like.”

“Its not stupid…” she mumbled but went to get the remote anyway.

* * *

About a week later the whole gang was lounging around Clarke and Raven’s apartment tipsy and rowdy. The entire extended friend group had been invited which included Monty and Jasper so there was plenty of booze to go around. They were at that fun drunk stage where everything was hilarious. And then playing a game was suggested which prompted a whole round of arguing

“OH Oh Sardines” Murphy hollered too drunk to control the volume or realize how ridiculous he looked in one of Clarke’s sweatshirts that was way too tight for him.

Clarke groaned “Nooo, the last time we played sardines my elbow got dislocated.” 

“Yeah, no not that one then” Lexa said wincing from where she laid across Raven and Octavia’s laps sipping whiskey from the bottle.

Clarke reached over and snatched at it “Stop that, that's how sad people drink”

“How can you tell Clarke? I thought I pushed down my feelings down so far no one knows I have them.” she pouted in response, tipsily keeping the bottle away from Clarke’s grasp. Any further attempt to get it would risk Clarke touching her, so Clarke put her hands back on her own sweatpants, or rather sweatpants she had stolen from Lexa and claimed as her own.

“I know!” Raven said “Blind man’s bluff!” There was a general consensus of agreement and excitement.

“Wait, no.” Clarke said. Because blind man's bluff required _ touching, _something she was very maturely (ha) avoiding at the moment.

“Why Clarke? What do you have against blind man's bluff?” Raven asked coyly knowing Clarke couldn’t exactly say why she didn’t want her hands all over someone's face.

“I just-” Lexa was staring at her, and oh god she was in her matching sunflower pjs Clarke swallowed hard “Fine, blind man’s bluff it is.”

“Great you can go first then!” Raven exclaimed, unceremoniously dumping Lexa off her lap and pushing the coffee table against the wall to make room.

And that’s how Clarke found herself standing tipsy and blindfolded in the middle of her living room scared of touching someone for the first time in her life.

Raven tied the scarf around Clarke's eyes and spun her five times so now she was tipsy and dizzy. As she lunged towards sound shrieks and giggles filled the room. Clarke had forgotten, in her panic, that this was actually a game she rather liked. At least the odds of dislocating something were slim. As someone (probably Octavia) was almost caught in her grasp, a loud sound behind her made her spin around, stumble, and collide with someone. Instinctively, her arms reached out to grab them. 

Clarke knew what came next, what was supposed to happen in the game. But, she had a feeling she knew who she had caught, and she froze in abject terror. She had to decide now. Take a gamble or chicken out. Wussing out was not an option and really what were the odds-

Not in her favor. The odds were most certainly not in her favor, because when she slid her hands up she found high cheekbones and when she felt a strange tingly current she knew her suspicions were correct. The blindfold was slid off her, and Lexa stood before her looking wide eyed and stricken. The room was silent as they all watched a strange collection of circuits and circles appear on Clarke's forearms. 

Now she was supposed to let go of Lexa’s face. Supposed being the operative word there. But she found herself trapped like prey in her stare. The room tilted and she really didn’t realize how much she had been drinking or how close the were or-

Oh god, she could feel it now. The thing Octavia had gushed about the influx of emotion. It wasn’t as though it hadn’t been there before. It was as though it had been there all along and now the haze was lifted. That, Clarke decided, was worse. It was as though Lexa, irritating, uptight, snarky, perfect, Lexa, had found a chink in the armor around her heart and burrowed so deep Clarke could never cut her out. She had been there too long. 

And that was just the emotional response. Physically, their hearts beat in time, heat crawled up the back of her neck, and she could feel that Lexa was panicking just as much as she was, and all she wanted was to run her fingers through her hair, press her face into Lexa’s neck and- _ That _thought was what sent Clarke running. She ignored Lexa calling out for her and ran barefoot out of her own apartment, down the stairs, and out into the cold night air.

Raven burst out after her hollering “What the fuck was that?! Why did you run?!” Clarke didn’t answer, just turned her head up and tried to blink away the tears, holding her arms like she was injured. Raven barreled on “No, really what the hell Clarke? Go talk to her for crying out loud!”

“Why should I?” Clarke snapped finally looking at her best friend “I didn’t ask for this.”

“Neither did she!”

Clarke felt fury rise up not just for her but for Lexa and her scared eyes. “No, you’re right. You forced it and now we have to deal with it.”

“No.” Raven said haughtily “You avoided it and now you have to deal with it.’

“But I had a choice! Raven” she exploded “I had agency. I could have made a decision!”

“Oh _ grow up. _ You couldn't have avoided touching her forever.” Raven said 

“I could have waited until I was ready!”

“You should have just talked to her about it! You fucked up, Clarke.”

Clarke growled “I didn't do shit.”

“You _ ran _ from her like there was a fire, Clarke! How do you think that made her feel? You’ve been saying she was your least favorite person in the world since forever, and when it turns out you’re _ soulmates _” Clarke winced “You turn tail. Now I know I'm a genius, but I don't have to be one to know that someone with abandonment issues probably isn’t going to take that well.”

Clarke didn't have a response for that one, mainly because she knew it was true. She would hold that Raven was wrong for pushing something that probably would have happened in its own time, but Clarke should have been an adult about it. God, she was too sober for this.

“I need to talk to her” Clarke said, finally letting the first few tears fall

“Hey,” Raven cooed, finally softening and wrapping her arms around her friend “I get it. It's not what you expected, and… you're right, I shouldn't have suggested the game to make you touch her but... “ she pulled back to look at Clarke “I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t think she was good for you. You two are electric.” she finished grinning 

Clarke rolled her eyes “Ok, Ok, let’s go back in now”

When they got back inside, Clarke was dismayed to find that everyone had gone back to their own apartments

* * *

A week. That's how long she had managed to avoid Lexa. It had been pretty difficult too. She hadn’t realized just how closely their lives intertwined until she tried to separate them. She figured Lexa didn’t care until one morning she was woken by her curtains being thrown open and a pair of angry green eyes staring at her.”A week” Lexa said quietly. 

“God what time is it” Clarke asked squinting at her phone.

“A _ week, _Clarke”

Clarke groaned “Lexa, its 7 am. How did you even get in here?” she sat up looking perplexed as Lexa towered over her bed in leggings and a tank top and, well Clarke was only human so sue her, she stared. 

Lexa stepped closer, and god, those leggings were _ tight _. “Clarke, we don’t have to talk about this.”

Clarke's eyebrows shot up in shock “We don't?”

Lexa sighed and said “Look you obviously aren’t ready to acknowledge” she gestured awkwardly between them “this, and I don't see how making you will make either of us feel better about it. However, you have got to stop avoiding me. It’s getting weird, and you missed game night.” she pouted as if that was the greater of the two evils.

“Wait so- you're not mad?”

Lexa quirked a brow “Do you want me to be mad?”

“Is this a trick question?”

“Clarke, did you ever consider that if you hadn’t run I would have?” Lexa asked looking slightly sheepish. “Look, I say we just forget it happened.”

If possible Clarke’s eyebrows rose higher “Forget it happened?! Lexa, _ this,” _she brought her arms up the show her “is all over our skin!”

“Look I’m not saying we have to _ forget _forget, I’m just saying it doesn't actually have to change anything.” she shrugged "After all, you were the one who said the tattoos mean nothing. This is your chance to prove it."

Clarke flopped back down on the bed “I’m not sure if that’s the best or worst idea I’ve ever heard but I don’t have a better one so… nothing changes it is.” 

Lexa perked up “Great! Now get up” she stalked to the door “you owe me breakfast for leaving me alone to be ambushed by our friends about it.”


	3. Chapter 3

“And then you ate waffles?” Bellamy asked 

“Yeah” Clarke said numbly “She came in, said that nothing had to change, and then demanded breakfast food.”

“And this has become a regular occurrence? How?!” 

“I don’t know! She just comes over and well- we all know that breakfast food is the best food so… I just let her.” Clarke sighed resting her forehead in her hand.

“Whipped”

Clarke’s head snapped back up “What? No!” 

“Yep,” Bellamy nodded sagely “ whipped. Two weeks ago you were barely able to be in the same room without ripping each other to shreds, and now you’re having breakfast every morning in your pajamas.” He said, tilting his glass at her with a knowing look. They were sat down on her couch trying to watch the new episode of Harlots, but apparently, Bellamy would prefer to pester her about her non existent thing with Lexa.

“It’s not like that- it’s just- Look, it’s just not a big deal” she sputtered 

“Clarke, this isn’t a bad thing you know” Belamy said softly

Clarke crossed her arms over her chest “I never said it was”

“Then stop freaking out!” he answered shaking her gently by the shoulders

“I’m not freaking out!”

“Are we ready to go?” Lexa appeared in front of them with a curious frown as she regarded the two yelling at each other. 

Clarke stood and grabbed her phone and wallet from the counter “Yes we are.”

They left Belamy sitting on the couch and made their way to Clarke’s car. There was an awkward silence as they got in and for about five minutes while they drove until- “So how much did you tell your mom?” Lexa asked.

“Only that it happened.” Clarke sighed from behind the wheel “I didn’t really elaborate.”

“So she doesn’t know that we're not a couple?” Lexa asked brow furrowed

Clarke felt a strange pang at that “I didn’t think about it. I guess what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her?”

“Clarke, she’s your mom…”

“Look you said we could be chill about this right? We’re only doing these tests for medical reasons, to be sure these tatts didn’t fuck up our biochemistry or something. I won’t let my mother give you the third degree just because a flying rock said we’re soulmates.”

A small smile stayed on Lexa’s face after that, and Clarke counted it as a win. The smile faded as they pulled into the hospital car garage though, and Clarke found herself feeling rather nervous as well. It was one thing to say nothing had changed it was another thing to see the results that proved they  _ had.  _

She followed the instinct that said “fix it” and reached over to Lexa’s knee. “Hey, breathe. You’ve met my mom. She’s excited, but she’ll respect your boundaries.”

Lexa mumbled “I know”

With that Clarke shut off the car and they went inside.

Checking in was fairly simple and before they knew it they were both being weighed and measured by Clarke’s mother.

“Ok! all that’s left is the blood test, the head scan, and then we’ll examine the marks themselves.”

Lexa’s easy smile disappeared “I'm sorry- blood test?”

Abby answered “Yes just a simple test to get an idea of your hormone levels and blood type.”

“Blood test as in needles?”

“Yeeess….” Abby asked quirking a brow, “ we need to add any information we find to your medical history. Is that a problem?”

“No! No- fine, that’s just- fine. Great” Lexa breathed.

“Ok. Well, I’ll go get some gloves and be right back” Abby said leaving a nervous Lexa and a concerned Clarke behind her.

“Lexa? You ok?” She had to restrain herself from reaching out. Clarke had to stop herself from touching Lexa a lot lately.

“Yeah. yeah I'm good”

And she was. Until Abby walked back in with the needles and every muscle in her body locked up and all the blood drained from her face. Abby seemed oblivious and asked her to hop up on the table, but Lexa didn’t look like she would be moving anytime soon.

Every cell in Clarke’s body told her she should call it off, tell Lexa she didn’t have to do this. They could just do the head scan and be done. Get ice cream after or something. 

But… this was about Lexa’s health, and Clarke couldn’t bring herself to compromise on that even with Lexa’s, now obvious, fear of needles. So Clarke steeled herself, got up from her chair, and moved over to Lexa.

“Hey, come here” she said grabbing Lexa by the forearms “I’ll be right here with you”

To her shock, it worked and Lexa allowed herself to be pulled over and onto the examination table. Clarke stepped up between her legs and pulled her close as Lexa held out one shaking arm to Abby. 

As she flinched away when Abby came closer, Clarke hushed her softly saying “ _ Heyheyhey _ just look at me, focus on me. Breathe Lex.” 

It was the closest they had been since the marks had appeared and Clarke did her very best to ignore how good Lexa’s warmth felt pressed against her. 

Clarke whispered soothing words into Lexa’s ear and cradled her close as Lexa turned her face into Clarke’s neck. She held tight as Lexa gave a little squeak of pain as Abby drew the blood and kept holding as Lexa shook afterwards. 

When the blood testing was finished for them both Clarke couldn't help but jibe with a smirk “So Needles huh”

Lexa’s expression didn’t falter as she said “So ladybugs huh” 

Clarke went quiet at the mention of that particular phobia.

The head scan was fairly easy. It mostly involved scans before and after close proximity to one another and a few basic questions. Abby suggested a more in depth look would require a psychologist but neither of them were too keen on that idea so she let it drop.

“Ok! We’ll just get all that sent off to the lab and get the results back within the week” Abby chirped tossing her gloves “Now! Lets see those tattoos. I’ll need to examine them and take a few pictures so we can note any changes your skin goes through. Clarke, you can go first.” 

Clarke rolled up the blue sleeves of her sweater so her mother could take a look and tried not to think about the fact that she had no clue where Lexa’s tattoo was and that it was probably (definitely) under her clothes.

“Ok Lexa, you’re turn” her mother said soon after photographing and examining Clarke’s arms.

Clarke held her breath as Lexa peeled off her shirt, slowly turned around and unclasped her bra to show Abby a tattoo identical to Clarke's in everything but placement. Circles and shaded lines trailed vertically down her spine from the top of her neck down between two  <strike> delicious </strike> Venus dimples.

Too soon, Abby was telling Lexa to put her shirt back down and that they could go. Clarke kissed her mother’s cheek and walked on slightly shaking legs back to the car.

On the ride back Lexa said “Well I guess that’s that then.”

Clarke glanced over at her profile “What’s what then?”

“That’s the last we’ll have to deal with the tattoos.”

“Um, Lexa, as far as we know they’re permanent…”

Lexa rolled her eyes “Yes but we’ve agreed not really acknowledge them, and it’s not like I can even see mine without a camera or a mirror.”

“Oh yeah...right.”

And so life went on. Clarke and Lexa remained true to their word and didn’t really talk about the tattoos aside from getting their test results back. Most of the results were unsurprising her blood type changed to matched Lexa’s and her hormone levels had changed. 

Their brain patterns were more intense in the temporal lobe when in the same room. They mutually decided not to comment on that or the increase in serotonin and Oxycontin during their proximity. 

Of course it was easy not to acknowledge it verbally. It was another thing not to  _ feel  _ it in every cell of her body that she needed to be near Lexa at all times.That was harder to ignore. 

Clarke had been in relationships before. There were a few boys in high school and college. The disastrous thing with Finn. The less disastrous thing with Niylah and several others along the way. So it wasn’t like she was unfamiliar with that sudden urge to be around a person you were attracted to. She was just unfamiliar with it at this intensity. 

At first they were subtle. Lexa situated herself closer to Clarke when they were out with their friends. She kept coming over for breakfast in the morning which turned into breakfast and jogging in the mornings because “Don’t you want to live to see forty, Clarke?”. 

Then, Clarke came in to teach a photography course to Lexa’s class of fifth graders because somehow between getting the tattoos and having breakfast Clarke had lost the ability to say no to this woman. 

And there was the touching. That started out subtle too. A hand brushed against Lexa’s back  where she knew the tattoo was as she passed her while their friends were bowling. A hand resting against Lexa’s while the group was at the theatre. They even started hugging when they went to say goodbye, something that had  _ never  _ happened before

By the time November rolled around it was less subtle. Clarke sat next to Lexa at everything. Lexa wasn’t afraid to rest her hand on Clarke’s waist or knee or shoulder or (and Clarke nearly had a heart attack when she did this for the first time) hip. When they sat next to each other during game night Clarke lived for the time spent with her entire side pressed up against Lexa. 

Their bickering didn’t stop though. If anything it was geared up a peg. The tone however softened. The jabs were fond now and they were careful to keep the arguments fair and do their very best not to say anything hurtful or cruel in the process of making a point. 

For the first time ever they were hanging out just the two of them. They were having coffee and breakfast almost every morning now and 80's Movie nights became a serious matter once Lexa revealed she had never seen The Goonies, Gremlins, or 13 going on 30. Clarke upon hearing this yanked her up from where they had just finished girls dinner with Raven and Octavia, whisked her home, shoved her onto her couch with Clarke's leggings and hoodie on, covered her in blankets, gave her some popcorn, and made her watch all three. She woke with her head on Lexa’s chest to a blank TV screen and Lexa’s fingers carding through her hair. Movie nights were a staple every Friday after that.

By mid December, all bets were off. Even during group gatherings they made no effort to hide their hands intertwined every spare moment. Lexa always came over in the mornings and Clarke had taken to holding the brunette close and resting her lips against a sleepy Lexa’s forehead as coffee brewed. That was their time. 

They had even started to spend the night occasionally, crushed together on the couch for the most part because transferring to a bed seemed like too big a step. 

Movie nights turned into dinner which turned into spending almost every free moment together and if you had told Clarke three months ago that Lexa Woods would become one of the people she cared most for in the world she would have laughed. (Although deep deep down she knew she had always cared about Lexa, and deep down she knew that this tattoo was giving her license to let go and give into that urge to be close to her.) 

Lexa was someone she could go to always, and she found that Lexa had this brilliant serious way of listening to her. From her complaints about work to her passion for her art, Lexa soaked it all up like a sponge

In turn, Clarke sat with Lexa as she graded papers, watched as she poured her heart into her students, brought her to wander around the aquarium to visit the squids after a particularly rough day. Clarke pulled Lexa deeper and deeper into her world, and it was as if those 4 am drunk hours in the bathroom had bled into everyday life.

* * *

“Camping?!” had Clarke been a cartoon she would have done a spit take.

“Yes.” Octavia said not looking up from her eggs.

“But,” Clarke searched for a word to convey her confusion and distaste and only came up with “Why?!”

Octavia shrugged and stole a piece of bacon off Raven’s plate next to her, “To be with nature, cook outdoors, to spend time with friends, to get drunk and fight a bear. Need I go on?”

Clarke shook her head and said “No, no, that's- good. I’m good, it’s just... really Octavia camping?”

“Look it’s my turn to pick the trip this year, and I want to go camping” she answered defiantly, trying to sneak more food off Raven’s plate.

“Clarke, it won’t kill you. Lexa, you in?” Raven asked stopping Octavia’s hand.

“I’m down” Lexa said sipping calmly at her mimosa. 

“What?!” Clarke’s eyes bugged out “ Lexa, please back me up here. This is a bad idea right?”

Lexa’s eyes softened as she looked of the irate blonde “Well…”

Clarke groaned flopping back in her seat “Nooo, et tu, Lex?”

“Clarke it’s just three days, and there’s a lake at our usual campsite. Didn’t you say you’ve been dying to do some landscapes?” Lexa asked, hand slipping under Clarke’s shirt sleeve to thumb at the edge of her tattoo.

Leave it to Lexa to find Clarke’s underbelly and go for the kill immediately.

“And hey I’ll be there, too. We can go hiking together in place of jogging”

Second shot Clarke was waning. 

“The stars are really pretty out there, and there’s this waterfall we can swim at…” Her fingers moved to encircle Clarke’s wrist. “Please?”

Lexa 3 Clarkes pride 0

“Fine”


End file.
